 After conducting a second survey, state meteorologists and the National Weather Service of Topeka determined that Manhattan did experience a tornado last Saturday east of K-states campus. After previously reporting the storm only produced straight line winds locally. The National Weather Service's of Topeka office announced on Thursday last week that an EF2 tornado with estimated peak winds of 115 miles per hour hit at 7:20pm on Saturday, June 11 2022. Officials who made the declaration after additional analysis and surveying described it as a small brief tornado with a path of 0.30 miles in the McCain neighborhood. Russell Stukey, the Director of Emergency Management and Riley county spoke with Wildcat 91.9 about the extent of the damage. "The most recent updated assessment is just shy of $12 million and the upper $11 million range of damage and that is real estate type damage. So that wouldn't count any vehicles or personal property. It does count mobile homes but it doesn't count things such as trampolines blown out of the yard or other you know non-real estate type things. It includes houses, trees, mobile homes and structures basically" said Stukey.
But the amount of damage wasn't discovered until after Chris Craven a meteorologist from the National Weather Service joined Russell Stukey on analyzing other parts of Manhattan. "She took pictures and took GPS locations and then she goes back uploaded to the National Weather Service their program that they use to assess damage and estimate winds then that's where their initial she said you know, I can't really rule out a tornado we didn't see when we walked around the the typical you know, twisted trees everything for the most part we saw was blown. In one direction. And so that's why I think their initial was straight line winds but then they came back I think a team of three from the speaker Weather Service office re-walk those areas reanalyzed some things and went back to the office and reanalyzed the radar recordings and came to the conclusion you know, we think there was a little smaller, short lived tornado in that area" said Stukey. Short lived and yet over 60 properties sustained major damage and three homes were destroyed, making this the worst storm damage to hit Manhattan since 2008. After an in-person assessment and further analysis of radar data, the National Weather Service of Topeka determined that the storm damage that Riley County residents experienced on June 11th was caused by straight line winds and a small EF2 Tornado North east of K-States campus. Some areas of Manhattan experienced much worse straight line wind speeds than others. The hardest hit areas saw 115 mph winds which is the equivalent of wind speeds caused by EF2 tornadoes without the rotation. Some homes on these once-leafy streets were left without any trees at all. Regardless of the straight line winds and strong gusts that lasted for hours after the first sirens blared, the sun still rose Sunday morning and crews across Manhattan continued to try to re-establish power, cable, and internet services for many Manhattan residents. For 20-year Fremont Street homeowners such as Bill Springer, however, watching an old-growth tree calve off a large branch in his front yard onto the sidewalk is not nearly as scary as the one that has yet to fall on his pink Victorian home. Wildcat 91.9 encountered Springer assessing a fresh crack running the length of a tall shade tree in his side yard closer to his home.
"In 2001 or 2002, the other side of this tree came down on this side of our house. Since then, we've tried to have it taken out, but I know the insurance has told us that the tree is still stable, is still fine," Springer said. After Saturday's storm, the new jagged split appears even more defined. Because the side-yard tree seems to be leaning away from his house and toward local power lines, Springer is convinced the tree must come down before his neighbors experience a power outage after the next storm--or he has to repair part of his roof again. Either way, Springer is on the case. "Hopefully, this will change their minds." Hot off the presses from the K-State Alumni Association magazine, K-Stater!
 By CZ Last week, while out for a run around campus just to prove how healthy he is, Dawson Wagner happened to bump into Dr. Steve Smethers as he was leaving Kedzie Hall for the last time. His once-sagging office shelves bare, his library all loaded up, Steve was taking in the mid-century style classroom/office building with well-known structural issues before Kedzie completely sinks into the rich Kansas soil from which it sprung. So, thank you, again, Steve, for your direction of the A.Q Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communication (JMC), a management style that was equal measures leadership and friendship. Us students will miss you, the staff will miss you, and the faculty seems even more emotionally unstable than usual. If there is any solace in your retirement, it should be that you have become so irreplaceable that JMC decided never to fill your position, choosing instead to merge with the Communications Studies department to become K-State's new School of Media and Communications Studies, demolish Kedzie altogether, and replace it with a giant Arby's. Or, at least that's the rumor. We look forward to seeing you again sometime soon if nothing else to find out how good you look In some color other than your daily purple!  By CZ
We're only halfway through the 2022 broadcast year and already Wildcat 91.9 is making history for its diversity programming at K-State. Of course, as a station that features new alternative AND hip-hop music, Wildcat 91.9 has a head start on diversity, but we go the extra mile. We have an Indian student who plays party tunes in Hindi to celebrate Fake Patty's Day who also features Spanish-language hits, a Hispanic student who unpacks the latest hip-hop tracks, the first ever African-American female sports director, the ever-adorable Breanna Palmer, a morning show that interviews Ukranian students while playing Ukranian rock music, and, well, like I said, we're just getting started.  By CZ So, we have to explain this one for people who missed it. Ed Weigle is a nationally known voiceover talent who donates his time to support Wildcat 91.9. You may recognize him from TV and radio commercials, but his work for WWE Wrestling has probably gotten him the most fame. Ed's a funny guy. When we write copy for him, we try to get him to laugh. As the staff announcer for Wildcat 91.9 sports, Ed gives our games extra energy that is worth waiting for in between the action, and he'll be back again in the fall!  By CZ A radio station like Wildcat 91.9 attracts a lot of talented people. Kolby Van Camp has been singing, composing, and recording at high levels of opera before coming to Wildcat 91.9. After calling a few football games for the Wildcats last fall, Kolby abandoned his plans to become a music teacher to pursue graduate studies in sports journalism. He also stepped into a leadership position by becoming the head of fundraising for Wildcat 91.9. Sure, he's smiling in this photo now, but it's just a matter of time. This downward slide into commercial media is a sad, familiar story. Next stop is body piercings, facial tattoos, eating gas station sushi he keeps in his pockets, and trying to convince passers-by that he's a time traveler from another dimension ruled by cats. Better listen to this promo while there is still time. To max a tax-deductible donation to Wildcat 91.9, click here!  By CZ
The best about being a part of the sports staff on Wildcat 91.9 is that you will begin to call Wildcat games right away. Unlike other schools, you don't have to earn you spot calling games. Football, baseball, basketball, men and women, it doesn't matter. Lesser experienced play-by-play/color commentary students are paired with more experienced sports journalists. Frequently, magic happens.  Colin Settle doesn't even work here anymore so I'm not sure why we have his play-by-play up on the website, except that he won a bunch of awards and immediately got a job in Kansas City radio upon graduation. Oh, and as you can hear in this sample, when the Wildcats made some great play, Colin sounded as if he was jacked up on Mountain Dew and Slim Jims. "Let's Go, Baaaby!"
 By CZ
Dawson Wagner, the Wildcat 91.9 news director, is a multi-platform star equally at home in audio and video edit bays, producing TV news stories, and having fun on the radio. His work at Wildcat 91.9 also has the distinct odor of management, but we try not to hold that against him. He loves doing long-form interviews and podcasts. He also handles weather updates. programming issues, website work, and drone video footage. At this rate, Dawson will not leave a job openings for any of his colleagues upon graduation.  Here's a selection of clips of Anthony Gorges doing play-by-play over the past year.
 By CZ
Although the award-winning Jax n' Max morning show ended, the demo still draws a tear and smile at the same time. Max can still be heard this summer and he's looking for a new partner with a name that rhymes with his. So, if your name is Baxter, you go to K-State, and you ever thought about doing radio, this could be a very lucrative business opportunity for you.  By CZ
Breanna Palmer's "Black History Month" features rocked. I've got nothing to say here. Breanna is the nicest, sweetest, hardest working woman at Wildcat 91.9. We still haven't figured out why she hangs out with any of us dorks. |
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